A bad-tempered father who fatally injured his four-week-old baby by hurling into her cot because she would not stop crying more than 20 years ago has been cleared of her murder.
Dean Smith, 45, from Hertfordshire, threw Maisie Newell across her bedroom when she was a baby on August 26, 2000, leaving her with a fractured skull and brain injuries.
Maisie was subsequently left with life-changing injuries and was cared for by adoptive parents until she died at home with them on June 28, 2014, just before her 14th birthday.
In February this year, Smith had pleaded guilty to her manslaughter but denied murdering Maisie.
On Monday, a jury at the Old Bailey found him not guilty of murder following a retrial.
Dean Smith, 45, from Hertfordshire, threw Maisie Newell across her bedroom when she was a baby on August 26, 2000, leaving her with a fractured skull and brain injuries
Dressed in a navy suit, Smith wept with relief as the jury announced its verdict after deliberating for 11 hours and 58 minutes.
Judge Mark Lucraft QC adjourned sentencing in the 'difficult case' to November 12 and Smith was bailed ahead of the sentence.
The court had heard Smith had thrown Maisie across the room because he was furious he had been left to look after her on his own.
An hour before the incident, the warehouse worker shouted at the baby's mother: 'Don't leave me with a f***ing screaming baby for hours.'
After fatally injuring Masie, Smith calmly lit a cigarette, drank a beer and played on his PlayStation at his two-bedroom flat in Edgware, northwest London, where he lived at the time.
His partner, who cannot be named for legal reasons, came home from her friend's house and checked on Maisie but did not notice anything was wrong until a couple of hours later.
Maisie was rushed to hospital with dreadful injuries to her skull and spine leaving her handicapped for life.
Adoptive parents cared for her until she eventually died at home with them just before her 14th birthday on 28 June 2014.
Maisie Newell was left with life-changing injuries and was cared for by adoptive parents until she died at home with them on June, 28, 2014
Smith admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm after the attack and was jailed for three years in 2001 before a murder investigation was launched following her death 13 years later.
He was cleared of murder following a retrial at the Old Bailey after admitting manslaughter. The first jury had failed to reach a verdict on the murder charge last September.
When recalling her relationship with Smith his partner told jurors heard how Smith once said: 'Life's a b****, you marry a b****, then have a couple of b****es, then you die.'
Sally O'Neill, prosecuting, said Smith had warned his partner he was difficult to live with.
'He used to refer to Masie as 'The B****' but
